Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 5187252" data-attributes="member: 3820">I don't think "smart play" ever became equal to "bad play." I think instead you saw one of the earlier (of oh so many) divides in play style. I couldn't fault any GM of less than veteran caliber for being disappointed if the players bypassed a lot of content, and I can definitely see how it would make a GM develop a "why bother?" attitude. Now, yes, in these days of the internet you can find a lot of advice to help you work past that -- it doesn't take long to find someone who'll give you decent advice for adventure preparation and, more importantly, how to take your players into account. Back in the day, though, you might not have had contact with other gaming groups, much less veterans who had good advice about keeping players happy. And just as an unsatisfactory experience with a GM has made plenty of players quit the hobby, I wouldn't be surprised if unsatisfactory experiences with players has made a number of GMs quit the hobby. "Smart play" is, I think, something that is far more table-specific than many people assume. Some of the smartest play out there isn't about figuring out what's likely to happen in the context of a realistic game world, it's about reading the GM and anticipating the designer's intentions. A gambit that would work at one table might not work at the next because of differing styles. In some places, carefully checking every room for traps and secret doors is the smartest play. In others, it's something that slows down the game immensely and erodes at your fellow players' enjoyment.</blockquote>

Verification